Klopp's "everything" boast about 9 midfielders now after Liverpool transfer call
If Aurelien Tchouameni could retake one decision in his life then it would obviously be where he sent that penalty when he was up against Emiliano Martinez in Qatar.
But Jurgen Klopp would rather it was something else.
Because, somewhere out there, there is a world where Liverpool got hold of the one and only midfield player they were pursuing last summer, and his presence ensured that the problems that have begat problems this season simply never happened.
Tchouameni, who turned 23 last Friday, was identified as the player who would take the evolution of Klopp's Reds side forward, becoming the beating young midfield heart and lungs that it would need if it was to keep playing in the manner that it had done so impressively in recent years.
Identifying one target and then refusing to budge until they were acquired has been a divisive Liverpool tactic when it has come to transfers, but it got them Virgil van Dijk, Alisson and Tchouameni's young France team-mate Ibrahima Konate, so maybe it would be worth it for the Monaco man.
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But then he went and joined Real Madrid.
A switch to Spain had always looked on the cards for the midfielder, but nonetheless Liverpool hung in and felt that they had a chance to persuade him to pick Anfield over the Santiago Bernabeu. Given how the Reds do their business, that was a big commitment to make.
Liverpool wanted to sign Aurelien Tchouameni last summer (Getty Images)Klopp and his transfer team would know of plenty of other options they liked, but none of them were Tchouameni, and if none of them were Tchouameni then, for last summer's window at least, none were coming in. This is Liverpool's version of all or nothing.
Anxiety was already abound at that stance, but then when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Curtis Jones all got injured in pre-season, followed by Thiago Alcantara on the opening day of the campaign proper at Fulham - where the midfield which had started the previous May's Champions League final had looked extremely leggy - it reached fever pitch.
Klopp sat down to face the press on August 30 prior to the home game with Newcastle, and when questions came about midfield additions he couldn't hold back.
Thiago was injured in Liverpool's opening day draw at Fulham (Getty Images)“We had all different aspects of a midfield but people ask me, ‘do you need another midfielder?’ A tenth midfielder? Not sure,” Klopp said.
“But we were going for a midfielder, but the midfielder decided to go to another club, that can happen.
“In that moment it’s not just ‘we don’t take him so let’s see if we can take the other one’".
So having failed to sign Tchouameni, the player Klopp was referring to, the Reds manager was insistent that he had enough midfielders in the squad to mean that he didn't just need to sign anyone, adding that those available boasted all the qualities you could possibly need for the position.
“We started the season with nine midfielders. In every aspect there was everything in; creativity, speed, excitement – because of youth – technique, fight, runners," he said.
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“It’s all there and they all have contracts."
The trouble was that four of the nine already weren't available for that Newcastle game the next day, and five months on the fortunes of most of the rest of them are hardly flourishing.
Let's start with the most concerning of the lot, Fabinho .
The Brazilian would have a good shout of getting in plenty of all-time Liverpool XIs due to his performances in winning the Champions League and Premier League, the former in his first season.
However, for whatever reason - and you suspect there might be a few of them - his displays have dropped off incredibly in the current campaign, to the extent where he now can't get in the side, and when he does he turns in displays like he did at Brighton on Sunday when he should have been sent off.
Fabinho has been hugely below par (AFP via Getty Images)Jordan Henderson is another player who finds himself out of the team now, and another who has been decidedly below par for months, for his club anyway.
The Reds captain recently admitted that he was feeling the strain of such a relentless schedule, and impressing for England at the World Cup seems to have taken a lot out of him.
The "fight" and "running" elements that Klopp pointed out were surely with his captain in mind, and indeed Fabinho, but neither have shown those qualities of late, dating back to the back end of last season.
Thiago Alcantara does tend to get a pass when discussing the performances of last season's first choice midfield this time around, and with good reason.
The stylish Spaniard is managing to hold a lot of things together in this disjointed Liverpool team, although he has been far from perfect himself.
He is still one of the first names on the teamsheet for Klopp though and that isn't likely to change, not least because of what is around him.
Keita has come back into the team in recent weeks (Alastair Grant/AP/REX/Shutterstock)At the moment, Keita is on that teamsheet too having emerged from the shadows to play his part following the resumption after the World Cup.
Keita has played quite well in recent weeks, but as his contract ticks down there appears to be little movement on a new one, and we reached the point long ago where no-one would be too surprised if an unfortunate injury was to befall him.
Hopefully it doesn't, as he still possesses some of the energy that has eluded some of his team-mates this season, but there is still a cloud over his future.
Like Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner are also out of contract at the end of the season, and there's been no news on a new deal for either of them.
Despite his advanced age it is Milner who is the most likely of the two to still be at the club next season, and while his ability to start games in midfield is now in doubt, he can still begin games at right-back and often adds to them when coming off the bench, and we all know about his fitness levels.
Oxlade-Chamberlain's fitness has been a regular talking point too, for different reasons, but he's been available more often than not of late - but not in midfield.
Klopp seems to have completely ruled him out of playing in the centre at the moment, and so when he plays it tends to be off the left.
The left is also where Harvey Elliott has started to begin matches all of a sudden, despite never featuring there before for Liverpool prior to the past week.
That suggests that Klopp wants to keep him in the side as it struggles, with the Englishman clearly a player he values.
The teenager kept up his record of appearing in every game for the Reds this season when he started and scored in the FA Cup at Brighton, but after seemingly unbalancing the team when he's been stationed in the midfield he's now started to drift out of it.
Harvey Elliott has been used on the left of the attack in recent games (Getty Images)Jones and Fabio Carvalho make up the nine midfielders Klopp was referring to in August, but the young Scouser has suffered unfortunate injury problems and appears to have lost his confidence and swagger as a result, and he is another who, like Carvalho, is often now seen in the attacking third and not midfield.
Carvalho has only been seen in glimpses in that central area, and also seems to have lost Klopp's confidence of late.
So, there we have it, nine midfielders - two out of form, one playing reasonably well, three a few months away from the exit door and three still youngsters who are subject to the ups and downs of form and fitness. Five of the nine don't often play in midfield right now either.
Bajcetic has surprised and impressed Klopp (AFP via Getty Images)One of the reasons for that is there is now a 10th of course, with Stefan Bajcetic impressively emerging from the youth ranks - seemingly to the surprise of his manager given that he didn't name him amongst his senior options in August.
The Spaniard deserves the starts he's currently getting, and his displays have put some of the nine to shame.
Believe it or not there is an 11th too, with Liverpool signing Arthur Melo on loan a day after Klopp's speech due to an injury to Henderson. The Brazilian has so far been seen for 13 minutes, and many don't expect to see him for much longer.
So nine midfielders became 11, but how many can Liverpool truly bank on being important players who start the biggest games for them next season? At the moment you'd only really say Thiago and Bajcetic. One of Klopp's nine and the emerging youngster.
It may have frustrated many but you can understand the Reds not diving into the January market for a midfield player if there wasn't a deal there that they agreed with, but there are going to have to be some agreeable deals soon.
Tchouameni won't be available for Klopp and Liverpool in the next transfer window, but it is absolutely imperative that two, three, possibly four 'No.1 choices' become so.
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